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Water pumps ala Balinese
My last post about smelly water has given me unreasonable hope that I will also get some advice about the strange art of making water.
This isn't some lead in to advanced prostate problems but more about Shimizu Jet Pumps PC - 268BIT. More to the point how do I get the fecking thing to stop going on?
OK water tower at top of house
Pump (with fecking great "automatic" tank on it) at well in garden
Pump goes on every 3-4 minutes to top up tank even when tank is really full - so, possibly 4 drops have leaked out somewhere and that 4 drops are what the pump refils. Again and again, lagi, lagi lagi...
Driving me nuts cause I know this aint supposed to happen. Tell me it aint so!
Had my local Tukang Pumpe in (TWICE!) where he did that wonderful Balinese look of sorrow after 5 minutes and told me pump is supposed to be that way. (He's like every other plumber in the world - a cheating MF)
IS THIS TRUE? Of do I need a new Tukang Pumpe?
Does anyone know of a real Tukang Pumpe that my guy can call and get advice from or makes house calls in Karangasem?
Failing that how's about some advice? (other the go-get-stuffed)
Ur Pumped UP Markit
pumps and wells
Have had similar problems for some years with pumps and haven't uncovered the solution, but my current plumber by-passed the automatic saying it wasn't necessary and instead the tank gets filled till about overflowing and is shut off. Not an ideal alternative, but beats hell out of the pump running incessantly.
On another note I recall your stating that your well is only 4-5 meters deep, and that you opted for that rather than spending 300juta for a well driller.
I have had two wells drilled and cased that each went down at least 40 meters for far less money. Can't recall the amounts, but fair to say in the 3-5 juta range. Unless you are drilling into granite I would opt for a deep well and a different contractor. That could solve the offensive odor problems.
my pump is doing the same...
different setup...water goes into tank by the forces of gravity, but still if reservoir/watertank is full..then the little blue ball at end of rod shuts off the inlet to fill the tank...
Wherever I need water on the property, that water comes from this reservoir/tank, using an automatic pump (pressure-switched if I am not mistaken)...
so theoretically if not using water, the pump should not switch on since the waterpressure stays the same...
but just like your pump markit, every 2-3 mintues the pump goes on for about 5 seconds..
so if it's like you say "not supposed to happen" same as my theory explains, I have got the same problem and also need a tukang pipa/pompa
but I have made a bypass-switch (normal waterproof lightswitch) so if I want to lenghten the lifespan of the pump, I can just turn it off at night...
I never do so, but that's because I am lazy and the fecking (hehehe) pump is way at the back of the house and "underground", so I can't hear it anyway.
In your case, when away abroad and no guests staying over at your place..a switch might be an okey thing, right?
Anyways, just wanted to share that I have the same thing/problem
don't read between the lines..i think the words are clear enough...:)
Allow me to become a tukang pompa in Bali for a minute (something I have learned never to do in my own house: too complicated). So here are possible sources for your problem (but I am pretty sure you already thought along those lines):
1) There is a water leak in your water circuit, but small enough not to be too obvious. It could be coupled with…
2) …a faulty or too sensitive flow switch, which forces the pump to turn on as soon as few drops of H2O have left the tank.
3) Your water circuit does not leak, but your flow switch is defective or poorly adjusted, making the system too sensitive. I would assume that their would be an adjustment on the flow switch, which is such that it stops the incoming water from coming into the tank at one given water level, and allows more water IN, at a much lower level (?)
4) Do you ever seen small bubbles of air coming out from any of the faucets when you draw water?
PS. This comment should be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records, in the section: longest distance for a plumber (non-union) house-call.
Keep on smiling.
Daniel
_____________
"War is terrorism on a bigger budget."
check to see if you have a ball-cock valve in your tank on the roof. It will be the one seeming to float on the top. This valve controls the level of the tank, and hence is what will make the switch turn your pump on and off. There is adjustment allowable on the ball valve, simply screw in or out.
If there is a leak in your tank or pipes, you need to find that, but try above first.
If all this fails, you are screwed!
I agree that it indicates a leak, could be under the house and hard to find. This was discussed on the Bali Advertiser not long back. See The Empty Bukit. The relevant bit is
We had a leak in a hot water pipe (which can be expensive when the water heater keeps heating), and the plumber believed the leak was under the kitchen where granite benchtops were installed above. So we ended up running a new pipe around the outside of the house and disconnecting the problem pipe.If everything is turned off the water pump should not be running. If it keeps switching on and off you have a small leak. If it continuously runs you have a large leak. If you do have a leak start off by checking that toilets are not running or taps are not dripping. If you still have a leak call someone, it can be very frustrating trying to find a leak in your water supply system. (Don’t call a tattooist, they’re usually not very good with water pumps.)
Are you using a lot of water to top up that swimming pool everyday? You will naturally lose water from evaporation but this shouldn’t be too much. If you are topping up a lot perhaps you have a leak somewhere in the swimming pool or, more likely, the pipework for the pool.
Thanks for all your excellent advice (Tintin send the bill, it will give me enormous pleasure not to pay it - how many other plumbers can you do that with?).
It is wonderfully relaxing to hear you all have the same thing.
Oh mugwump, well drilling was quoted at 30 juta not 300 - these damned zeros! And yes that might help but if you read the articles RonB sent through, it also mighth not. And for 30 juta I will put up with the smell - to be brutally honest it generally smells pretty rank when I'm in the toilet anyway so a bit more or less...
Also find it interesting that your tukang suggested that it didn't matter either - beginning to get the suspicion that far from it "not mattering" I think they are perhaps "not understanding"...
Bought this present pump to replace one that didn't go on or off automatically either so was concerned that this one would do as promised on the box and at store - so was particularly obnoxious there.
The "system", and I use that term very loosely, works by seeing the entire water supply system of the house from pump to collecting tank as a sealed container and it sees any time the pressure drops, for instance when you turn on your faucet, as a "leak" with a corresponding drop in water pressure which the pump then has to top up until the pressure is equalized again.
I think! Or it could be fecking magic...?
Now what I want to do is make the pressure switch so insensitive that the pressure (and water level) in the "system" falls quite a bit before the pump starts up and then fills it up.
The question is how to do that as neither my tukang pompa (thx gil) nor my guy Alit seem to grasp the idea that this should be "theoretically" possible, at least according to the manual, now lost forever.
Any good ideas or expertise with pressure switches out there?
Yes there is an adjustment, but it's not likely to help you much. The pump is responding to the pressure in that small pressure tank on the pump unit. This tank has some air and some water in it, and the pressure measured is the pressure in that small air space. Only a small amount of water needs to be removed to reduce the pressure significantly. So adjustments to the switch won't change this much. A pump with a bigger tank would be a bit less sensitive.
If there are no leaks, and no taps are being turned on - it should go for hours without the pump switching on. So you either have some legitimate water usage you have not thought about - or else its a leak.
level switch in main tank
As Ron says the pump is reacting to the drop of pressure in the small pressure tank not to the water level in the main tank. You will need to insert a level indicator switch into the main tank, basically a float valve that acts as a circut breaker. You set the level at which you wish the pump to become operational. The power feed to the pump is rerouted via this switch so it can not operate until the level drops to that point. Not sure if avaliable in Bali though?
Feel kinda embarrassed to say but just got mad with the whole thing and set all switches on the pump to "left" or full off and hey presto! The pump now goes on only when the water has seriously fallen in the tank until the floater (Ta Goldy) is back to the upper level and turns everything off again.
Moral of the story: don't try and understand this weird Balinese shite - just set everything to slow, off or down and adjust up from there.
Your Markit
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